


Keith Genuary Day 19: Coran

by sunshinehime



Series: Keith's Gen-Uary Event 2019 [10]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Coran (Voltron)-centric, Gen, Singing Keith (Voltron), Space Uncle Coran (Voltron), Supportive Coran (Voltron), mentions of king alfor and queen melenor, not a songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-10-12 21:24:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17475242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshinehime/pseuds/sunshinehime
Summary: Coran calms himself, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbing at his eyes. “My apologies Number Four. It was just, your voice when you sang. It reminded me of King Alfor.” He clears his throat before continuing, the memories threatening to overwhelm him again. “He used to sing all the time when tending to the garden with Queen Melenor. And you sounded so much like him.”





	Keith Genuary Day 19: Coran

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a sucker for Coran interacting with literally anyone. Also a Keith that can sing is A+

Coran normally corrals Lance into helping out with cleaning the Castle of Lions, since he doesn’t have other outstanding projects to work on. But today is an unusual day and the Royal Advisor asks Keith to help him, since Lance is training one-on-one with Shiro.

“It’ll only be for today Number Four, then you can go back to your assigned task of modifying the training programs.”

Keith shrugs. “I really don’t mind. Work is work and it has be done.” Keith is more than used to cleaning by himself, so even an undertaking like working through the massive Castle is no trouble to him.

They start by clearing out a few of the lesser used storage rooms. Most of the time is spent rifling through all the junk, checking for anything salvageable before piling up what needs to be tossed.

Next they move on the healing pods in the medbay; those must be cleaned thoroughly and maintained every single day, no exceptions. So with a large brush and a bucket of cleaning solution in hand, Keith gets to work disinfecting the first one while Coran checks its tubing for any leaks or damage.

The task is simple and Keith’s mind soon wanders. When this happens, he tends to hum or sing to himself, usually when he’s alone. But Coran’s presence is soothing and judgement-free so he unconsciously starts up a nice slow tune, one that Shiro would often sing back at the Garrison when he was with Keith and Adam.

Keith is too engrossed in his task to notice Coran startle and cease his work at the sound of his crooning. He walks around behind Keith and plays the role of silent audience, letting the music wrap around him. When Keith finishes the song a few minutes later, Coran breaks into loud applause, tears falling down his cheeks.

Keith, still focusing on the pod, nearly jumps out of his skin at Coran’s sudden theatrics, then jumps again and backs away when he turns and Coran is an inch from his face. “What the-- _Coran_? Y-you okay there?”

Coran calms himself, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbing at his eyes. “My apologies Number Four. It was just, your voice when you sang. It reminded me of King Alfor.” He clears his throat before continuing, the memories threatening to overwhelm him again. “He used to sing all the time when tending to the garden with Queen Melenor. And you sounded so much like him.”

Keith is taken aback. A few people, Shiro included, have told him he has a nice voice. But he’s being compared to royalty now? That’s way too much to accept . “I, I sound just like  _King Alfor_?  _Really_?”

Coran scratches his chin as he ponders the question. “Well not completely. Unless you can insert the mating call of a Loumer in the middle of a verse. And of course you’re not singing in Altean. I assume it’s one of those fascinating Earth languages instead. But other than that, nearly a dead ringer for his singing voice, I must say.”

Interacting with Coran always throws Keith off kilter -- he’s never met someone so weird yet strangely charming in his life. “O-okay, yeah. Cool. Uh, thanks. I-I guess.”

An earnest look permeates Coran’s jewel eyes. He's so open with his emotions that even Keith, who normally struggles with expressions, can read them easily. “Keith, permit me to request another song from you? Just one more, if you may.”

He blinks. He guesses Coran isn’t finished surprising him today, and carefully considers the request. Normally Keith would refuse, due to a mix of nerves and the belief that whoever’s asking is mocking him. But this is Coran and as strange as it sounds, Keith trusts him.

“Okay. I think I have one more song I could try, maybe.” Coran beams and Keith is hard-pressed not to reciprocate the gesture, so he gives a hesitant smile in return.

“Ah, and don’t you worry lad, this will just be between the two of us. My lips are as sealed as a Buzzor’s hindquarters.” And he winks and Keith feels a weight lift from his chest. Leave it to Coran to know what would bother him.

He sits down on the floor near the pod and recalls the lyrics to the song, then starts. It was another one from Shiro, but with far more sentiment, something his mother passed on to him as a child.

The last of the words soon trail off from his lips and Keith sees Coran wiping more tears from his eyes. He pretends not to notice and waits until Coran calms himself, then gets back to cleaning.

* * *

The next day Keith approaches Coran right after breakfast and asks if he can help out with cleaning the Castle today too. His eyes widen at the question, then he throws an arm around Keith’s shoulders and drags him to their latest cleaning project.

They move on to the medbay a few vargas later and start the daily process of cleaning and maintaining the healing pods. Keith alternates between singing and light humming, as much for Coran’s benefit as his own.

Once the last pod is finished, Keith squares his shoulders and takes a deep breath. He approaches Coran, butterflies dancing in his stomach. “Uh. Hey. Y-you liked my singing before. So, I could -- I can teach you a song. You know, um, if you want.”

To his horror, Coran’s eyes fill with tears, a few trailing down his cheek. He squeezes Keith’s shoulder, voice thick with emotion. “I would be honored. Thank you.” Keith isn't sure how to handle all this gratitude, especially for something as simple as offering to teach someone a song. So he clears his throat, mutters a quick “no problem,” and steers Coran over to one of the nearby gurneys so they can seat themselves.

“Okay so since you don't know any human languages, just listen to the sounds I make first and then I'll teach you how to sing that.”

“Alright then, I'm all ears! Get it? Because I have to  _listen_  to you…”

“Oh my god.”

**Author's Note:**

> These are the songs I imagined Keith singing, in order of debut:
> 
> https://soundcloud.com/utamea/nujabes-imaginary-folklore  
> https://soundcloud.com/boris-bajulaz/whos-theme-nujabes-and-minmi
> 
> I didn’t insert the lyrics in the story so that you could imagine whatever song you’d like. Also because I’m not a fan of songfics thanks to the unfortunate and infamous rush of them on FFN years ago. Man that was awful.
> 
> On a sidenote, Nujabes was such an incredible artist. I could listen to his work forever.


End file.
